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The Apple Core

The Apple Core: PowerBook Battery Shenanigans

apple-battery.jpgThe Apple developer note for the new PowerBook announced on 19 October 2005 (1440 by 960 pixels) appears to contain conflicting information about its battery capacity: on page 11 it says: “the computer has a 6-cell battery pack that uses lithium ion cells and provides 50 watt-hours at 12.8 V (nominal) for up to 6 hours.” But on page 12 it claims a “50 watt-hours battery with up to 5.5 hours operation.”
So where does the new PowerBook get the extra hour, or hour-and-a-half, of extra run time over the previous model’s quoted “4.5 hours operation?” The previous model PowerBook also ships with a “50 watt-hours” battery, so it must either be advanced power management ASICs on the logic board or creative marketing.
Read the rest of the story on my ZDNet Blog: The Apple Core.


apple-battery.jpgThe Apple developer note for the new PowerBook announced on 19 October 2005 (1440 by 960 pixels) appears to contain conflicting information about its battery capacity: on page 11 it says: “the computer has a 6-cell battery pack that uses lithium ion cells and provides 50 watt-hours at 12.8 V (nominal) for up to 6 hours.” But on page 12 it claims a “50 watt-hours battery with up to 5.5 hours operation.”
So where does the new PowerBook get the extra hour, or hour-and-a-half, of extra run time over the previous model’s quoted “4.5 hours operation?” The previous model PowerBook also ships with a “50 watt-hours” battery, so it must either be advanced power management ASICs on the logic board or creative marketing.
Read the rest of the story on my ZDNet Blog: The Apple Core.

By Jason O'Grady

Founded the PowerPage in 1995.